Carter once said a wave election is like a hurricane. You know it’s coming. But you don’t know if it’ll be a Category 1 or a 5. And you don’t know if it’ll hit Wilmington or Nags Head – or everywhere.

We’ve got a big one coming at us now. We’ll worry about the election later.

Hurricanes can upend elections. Twenty-two years ago Monday, Hurricane Fran slammed us. Trees came crashing down, people lost power for weeks and Raleigh was a sea of green tarps on roofs.

We were in the middle of Jim Hunt’s fourth campaign for Governor, running against now-GOP Chair Robin Hayes. Fran blew away any chance Hayes had. For a month, nobody cared about politics. We took down our TV ads. Most people couldn’t see them, and if they could, they didn’t care.

People did see Governor Hunt, because he did what Governors should do. Just as he did after Floyd in 1999, he threw himself into disaster recovery. He pushed and prodded state and federal agencies. He made sure emergency personnel heard about people facing emergencies. And he dominated the news. Hayes couldn’t get a TV camera if he set himself on fire.

Here’s Lesson One for Governors (and Presidents) at times like this. Your job isn’t to talk about how well government is responding. Your job is to make government respond better. There’s always more to do, and people who are hurting don’t want to hear what a great job you’re doing.

George W. Bush learned that lesson the hard way after Katrina. And Trump? He doesn’t do empathy well. Maybe he’ll toss us some paper towels.

For now, take a break from politics. Nobody’s paying attention. They’re obsessively watching Greg Fishel and Jim Cantore, constantly refreshing their news feeds and clearing the stores of water and batteries.

Stay safe. Look out for your neighbors. People will lose homes, farms and livelihoods. Some may lose their lives, or lose loved ones. A lot of people will be at the low point of their lives. Be their high ground.